Bottle-capping machine.



Patented Maru 11, 1919.

Fla a.

1. C. KAPPELHOFF.

BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATIONHLED saPr. 4, |911.

vNirnn STATES PATENT orrion. i

JOHN C. KAPPELI-IOFF, 0F ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

Y IBOITLE-CAPPING- MACHINE.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN C. KAPPELHOFF,

va citizen of the United States', Yresiding at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State y of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Bottle-Capping Machine,`of which the following is a specification.k

VMy invention relates to bottle capping machines, and the object is to. so construct the machine that as compared with the ordinary bottle-capping machines my device will con- Siderably reduce the cost of making and of operating the machine and also breakage of bottles during Vthe operation of capping them.

In theaccompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a diametrical vertical section of'one of the bottle supports and a radial section of fragments of the rotary frame holding the bottle supports. At the base of this view is Y shown a portion of the fixed cam that causes each bottle support to raise at a'certain point of its travel. Fig. 2 is the top portion of the support shown in Fig. 1 with a bottle upon it and a diametrical section of the casing and plunger above the bottle. Said View may also be considered as an upward continuation of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail side view of the plunger inV the yupper part of Fig. 2 on an enlarged scale. Fig. 4 is a cross section on the line 4 4 in Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawing by reference numerals, 1 designates the filled bottle which is to receive a metal cap 2 with a thin layer of cork within it by which the bottle is closed when the cap gets its edges squeezed downward and slightly inward under the regular top collar. of the bottle neck. Such process of capping bottles, and the capping machine in general, are so well known that I need not go into details about the same, but will merely mention that in Fig. 1, 3 designate portions of the usual double spider rotated on a vertical post (not shown) and carrying a series of vertically movable slides, 4, each of which has its upper end provided with a guard 5 bywhich to move the bottle 1 along while it is supported upon a rubber cushion 6 fixed in a cavity in the top of the slide. 7 are keys fixed in the slide and engaging loosely in key ways in the spiders of the carrier drum to prevent rotation of the slides as they revolve about the post (not shown). The lower end of each slide or bottle support 4 is provided with a roller 8, which rolls on a circular track 9, the latter Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 11, 1919.

bottle 1 is thereby pushed with its top up-V ward into the throat 13 of a casing 14, which is mounted on the central post ofthe machine and receives through a lateral mouth- 15 the partly prepared caps'Q, which are fed from a hopper (not shown).

Suitably retained in the upper part of the throat 13, above the mouth 15, is a capping plate V16 having a central ltaper throat .17 designed to close the caps about bottle necks of different diameters by allowing the smaller necks to raise thatv much higher into the throat of the plate. l Y

To raise the bottles into said position in the throat and thereby close the caps without breaking the bottle, the bottle support is made up of telescoped sections 4, 4? and 4b, the latter being an outer sleeve of part 4, to which it is threaded at 18, and between the adjacent ends of sections 4 and 4a is interposed a partly compressed spring 19, which is of suiiicientstiinessto cause the Vcrimping of the cap about Ythe bottle neck and also to compressthe two springs (presently to be described) which are located above the'bottle.

Guidingly inserted in the slide member 4 and in thespring 19 is atubular member 20 having at its lower end a collar 21, which is guided in the member 4 and supports the lower end of the spring 19 indirectly upon the top of a cylindrical hollow member 4b, which is loosely placed within the member 4 and forms by its internal open space 22- a clearance for the nuts 23, of a rod 24, which has its upper end threaded at 25 intothe top section 4a; said rod and nuts serving to regulate the normal Vexpansionjo the spring 19.

Turning now again to the casing-,14 and the springs therein, it will be noted that the spring 26 bears upon the collar 27 of a plunger 28, whose lower end and said spring serve to eject thecapped bottle downward 31 having a jam nut 32 to secure it in the desired position. In F ig. 2, 33 is a set-screw holding a collar 33a which has an opening toward the mouth 15. Said collar as well as the collar or plate 16 are inserted from below and supported by the annular throat collar 18 the latter being threaded at Si to the casing 14. In Figs. 3 and ft is shown how the plunger 28 is'comparatively light but provided withribs 28a so as to ll and guide the spring 26.

In. the operation ofthe machine the Yspring 19, when raised by the cam 10, although .it j Y 'ment at the moment the cap is fully closed is only about half as strong as in earlier machines, raises the bottle support and bottle with ease against the resistance of the much lighter springQG until the springV 19 becomes compressed enough to close the cap.

YAt this point of operation the roller vb is passing over the top of the cam 10 and thus nds so little resistance in its forward movement that the slight raising movement 'of it is very powerful, and by its force compresses the spring`30,'which is stiffer than the spring 26, and finishes the closing of the cap. This upwardforce will often cause the cap to stick in the throat 17- so that it takes an eXtra strong force :to start it downward again.` This'extra force is -then furnished by the expansion -of the spring 30 the moment the bottle starts on itsrdownward movement,and after it is started downward the spring 26 will further on the plunger to cause the bottle to Y.leave the throat without any jarorrchance to tumble from Vthe support until it reaches the regular `means by which it is removed., If the Y bottle neck is eXtra small thespring '30 may get compressed to its limitand forma posi tive stop, but even if this does not take place the final compression of so stiff a spring forms a comparatively positive yet yield-A able pressure in the capping and ejecting process, and this without requiring the ex- Y y Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commis i Washington, 1). C. Y j Y Voperation of the machine.

spi-'ing 19 is about twice as largeV and stiffV as my spring, and so is the spring in the casing 14, all of which requires a lwasting of material and labor and of power in the Y I am aware that prior to my invention.

attempts have been made to give the plun- Y ger 28 a positive stop inits upwardvmovein the throat, but vas lthisis impractical due to the fact that some bottle necks are smaller and should pass farther` up so as to get the cap fully closed I do not use nor claim a positive stop at any certain point.V

W'hat I claim is:

In a bottle capping machine, fa bottle VsupportV consisting of a vertically slidable plunger having closed top and bottom and composed of, two telescoped tubular sections a anda hollow support upon tliebottoin o f the lower section, a tubular inner member slidable with its upper portion in the upper sectionand having about its lower1 end ahxed collar slidable in the lower Vsection and ar-` ranged to rest upon'the hollow support; a. partly compressed coil springinserted be tween thesaid fixed collar and the bottom 'end of the Lipper plunger section; a rod secured with its upper end in the top closure y of the upper plunger section and having on Yits lower end threaded a nut arranged to Vbear up under the member having the colf lar, and'moans preventing accidental turning of said nut; said hollow support having a clearance for said, lower end of therod and the nut on same.

In testimony whereof I my gnature.

J o/ iiii o. limrrnignoirr.

sionerV ofVV Patents, 

